Control apparatus

ABSTRACT

Information is displayed on a color cathode ray tube in a color that contrasts with a background color. This information may be optionally obliterated by causing the information and background to be displayed in the same color. Logic circuitry combines information and color data to control display color.

United States Patent Strohmeyer 54] CONTROL APPARATUS [72] inventor:Garry G. Sn'ohmeyer, Hacienda Heights,

Calif.

[73] Assignee: Honeywell Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.

[22] Filed: June 6, 1969 [21] Appl.No.: 831,185

[52] US. Cl. ..340/324 A, l78/5.4 R [51] Int. Cl. ..G08b 5/22 [58] Fieldof Search ..340/324, 324 A; 178/5.4 R

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,284,663 11/1966 Stocker..340/324 A X 3,307,170 2/1967 Aoyama et al. ..340/324 R 1 June 6,1972

3,345,458 10/1967 Cole et a1. ..340/324 A X 3,351,929 ll/l967 Wagner..340/324 A 3,387,084 6/1968 Hine et al... "340/324 A X 3,522,367 7/1970Jones et al.. l7B/5.4 3,292,154 12/1966 Simmons ..340/324 A X PrimaryExaminer-John W. Caldwell Assistant Examiner-David L. TraftonAttorney-Charles J, Ungemach, Albin Medned and Charles L. Rubow [57]ABSTRACT information is displayed on a color cathode ray tube in a colorthat contrasts with a background color. This information may beoptionally obliterated by causing the information and background to bedisplayed in the same color. Logic circuitry combines information andcolor data to control display color.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing figures PATENIEDJUN 6 m2 FIG. 3 75 77 (nun;

OIOOI OIOOI 00000 FIG.2 IOIIO 000 I l l 000| II 00000 lllll 0000 000lllll IIII IOIIO 00000 IOIIO I l 0 00000 lllll l l INVENTOR. GARRY G.STROHMEYER WCZZ? ATTORNEY CONTROL APPARATUS THE INVENTION The presentinvention is generally concerned with electronics and more specificallyconcerned with color displays and even more particularly in colortransposition of information signals.

While the prior art contains many types of character displays orinfonnation displays, there has always been a problem of quicklygenerating the information from a blank screen or making the informationstand out so that it is easily noticed at a prescribed time. As will berealized, a changing condition attracts the eye much more readily than asteady state condition. The present invention, in a preferredembodiment, illustrates the principle of changing color which isbelieved to be one of the more significant changes of information as faras being noticed by the eye is concerned.

In operation, the present invention displays information on a screen,cathode ray tube, or other display in the same color as the backgroundmaterial. Upon command, this information is changed to a color differentfrom the background so that it will be readily noticeable and may beacted upon. An additional feature is that the information may always bedisplayed and merely changed from one color to another both of whichcolors are different from the background for additional emphasis.

Many situations are evident for use of such a display. On roadsidesigns, for instance, there is the need of stored information which wouldnot be useful to the motorist in most instances. However, in conditionsof ice or snow it may be desirable to display this information so thathe may act accordingly, it may also be desirable to have one color for aparticular caution or bit of information and a different color for moreurgent notice. An example would be Accident Ahead" in yellow letterswhere the accident was not serious and did not seriously impede traffic.However, the letters could be changed to red if there were a seriousaccident and traffic were impeded or virtually stopped. Other exampleswill readily appear to the minds of those skilled in the art.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide improveddisplay apparatus.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentafter a reading of the specification and appended claims in conjunctionwith the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block schematic diagram of a simple embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a presentation of signal levels at various points within FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a presentation of a possible display; and

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the type of signal presentation used in thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In FIG. 1 a first NOR circuit N] which is labeledhas inputs A1 and C1. An output 12 of NOR circuit 10 is supplied to aNOR circuit N3 which is designated as 14 and has an output 16 supplyingsignals to a gate 18. A further NOR circuit N2 which is labeled 20 hasinputs K2 and C2. An output 22 from NOR circuit 20 supplies furtherinput signals to NOR circuit 14. A fourth NOR circuit 24 has inputs K1and C1 while a fifth NOR circuit N5 or 26 has inputs A2 and C2. Theoutputs of NOR circuits 24 and 26 supply signals to a NOR circuit N6designated as 28 via lines 30 and 32, respectively. An output 34 of NORcircuit 28 supplies signals through a gate 36 to a bias amplifiercircuit 38 containing in this embodiment three channels operating from asingle input through three amplifiers 38R, 38B and 38G to separateoutputs. The outputs of bias amplifier circuit 38 are supplied to acathode ray tube generally designated as 40 through a logic or ORcircuit 42. The bias amplifier circuit 38 includes individually variablebias signals from a power supply 44 to the amplifiers 38R, 38B and 386.Power supply 44 also supplies variable power signals to individualamplifiers 50R, 50B and 50G within a bias amplifier circuit 50 whichreceives signals from gate 18 and supplies signals to the OR circuit 42antecedent CRT 40. CRT 40 is one example of a display which may be usedin a 3-gun version for supplying as many as eight color hues on thedisplay with the proper biasing and logic circuits.

FIG. 2 is a presentation showing signal levels as either a zero signallevel or a one signal level at each of various points in FIG. 1. Each ofcolumns D, E, F, and G have the same conditions for the colors C1 and C2but different conditions for the control signals Al and A2. As will benoted, the A signals are the complements of the corresponding A signals.

In FIG. 3 a display 75 is shown with the letters or informationgenerally designated as 77 depicting the word Fire and the wordsgenerally designated as 79 depicting the word Oil.

In FIG. 4 the letter F is broken up into many little bricks or bits ofinformation and the individual bricks or information spaces illustratethe information presented by each of the ones" supplied by the biasamplifiers 38 and'50 to the CRT 40. As will be noted, the letter F inthis particular embodiment is 6 time slots long and 12 lines in height.This, of course, provides good definition and this amount of definitionis not always required for a particular presentation.

OPERATION As previously mentioned, the chart of FIG. 2 represents thevoltage amplitudes at various places within the schematic diagram ofFIG. 1. The A and C quantities appear at the inputs of the respectiveNOR circuits while the N quantities appear at the outputs of therespective NOR circuits. Under normal conditions, the A1 and A2 signalswill be zero while the Al and A2 signals will have a one output. As willbe realized, a NOR circuit will provide an output only when there is nosignal at either one or the other input. Thus, the ones obtained fromthe A signals prevent any transmission of signal through the particularNOR circuit. With A1 and A2 having zero signal, the color signals beingsupplied on C1 and C2 are then transmitted through the NOR circuits N3and N6 and accordingly through the gate circuits l8 and 36 and biascurcuits 38 and 50 to the OR circuit portion 42 of the CRT 40. As willbe noted, the C1 and C2 signals are complementary and are utilized toprovide color signals to the CRT at complementary times. With only thetwo signals shown, the outputs from the bias amplifiers may be applieddirectly to one or the other of the three color guns. However, with morecomplicated versions wherein it may be desired to provide as an outputany one of eight color hues, the signals would be applied to the ORcircuit 42 at a level determined by the bias potentiometers 46 and 48.The OR circuit will activate the color guns in ac cordance with thevoltage level supplied thereto to produce a particular color. Further,the OR circuit will be voltage sensitive and select only the highest ofa plurality of voltages applied to it in the remote event that more thanone level voltage signal is accidentally or intentionally appliedthereto.

Thus, it will be realized that the circuitry is slightly more complexthan necessary for a two or three color presentation but is based uponcircuitry utilized in an eight color presentation wherein the biasingcircuits and the OR circuits provide a preferred method of applyingsignals to the CRT 40.

In the beginning of the description of operation, the normalpresentation was mentioned and this is shown in column D of FIG. 2. Inthis presentation there will be in the first brick or information spacea color corresponding to signal C2 while in the second brick a colorcorresponding to Cl. In the third and fourth bricks there will be colorcorresponding to C2 and in the fifth brick color corresponding to C1.

In column E a signal is applied at Al which will provide a continuoussignal at the output of NOR gate 14 and prevent the presentation ofsignals at the output of NOR gate 28. Thus, the CRT 40 will receivecontinuous signals from the bias circuit 50 at the levels set by thebiasing amplifiers so that the entire presentation as far as is shownwill be of a single color. As

will be realized, the two color signals C1 and C2 are still applied tothe NOR gates but are merely prevented from being transmitted to theCRT.

In column F the A2 signal is applied. This, of course, pro vides acontinuous signal at the output of N6 and accordingly from the biascircuit 38 to the CRT 40. In this instance, none of the color signalswill be transmitted through NOR circuit 14.

It may be determined from FIG. 2, column G that if both signals A1 andA2 are applied, the inverse of the signals will be applied at theoutputs of NOR circuits 14 and 28 so that an inverse of colors of thepresentation will appear at CRT 40. Thus, 'four possible presentationsare obtainable with the simple two color circuit. One is the normal orpreferred mode of presentation of a given color on a given background.The second is a presentation entirely in the color of the normalbackground. The third is the entire presentation in the normal color ofthe information. And finally the background and information colors canbe reversed.

It may be determined from the previous discussion that the presentationof information as shown in FIG. 3 could have the background 75 in agiven color, the word Fire in a second color and the word Oil in a thirdcolor. By merely applying a signal such as Al, assuming that Cl is thebackground color, the entire presentation would be of the backgroundcolor and there would be no visible or active information. However, uponthe removal of the A1 signal the word Fire" would ap pear. Since theword Oil is at a different position in the presentation, the A1 signalwould have to be applied continuously if it is desired that the word Oilshould not appear either. However, the A1 signal can be timed to produceselective removal or appearance of a given word.

On the other hand, with a three color presentation and with additionalcircuitry for FIG. 1, the presentation may be designed such thatsupplying either one of two inputs would alter the color of one or theother of the words in FIG. 3 so that it would be the same as thebackground color. In this type of presentation there would be no timinginvolved since all the words of that given color would be changed to thebackground color.

While the present disclosure describes a simplified embodiment utilizingtwo colors, it will be realized by those skilled in the art from theabove description of operation that the logic circuitry can be easilymodified to provide as many as eight color hues and possibly more colorhues upon a display such as a CRT. The logic circuitry may take manyforms and for more than two colors will necessarily be somewhat morecomplex than that shown in FIG. 1.

I, therefore, claim:

1. Apparatus for visually presenting information comprising:

a cathode ray tube having a display surface on which a mu]- ticolordisplay can be generated;

input means for receiving first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixthbinary signals each having first and second states, of which the firstand second signals are of opposite binary states, the third and fourthsignals are of opposite binary states, the first, second, third andfourth signals are representative of the information to be presented,and of which the fifth and sixth signals are independentlyrepresentative of the color in which the information is to be presentedand the background color;

first, second, third and fourth NOR circuits, each having first andsecond inputs;

means for connecting said input means to the firstand second inputs ofsaid first, second, third and fourth NOR circuits so that the first andfifth signals are supplied to said first NOR circuit, the fourth andsixth signals are supplied to said second NOR circuit, the second andfifth signals are supplied to said third NOR circuit, and the third andsixth signals are supplied to said fourth NOR first r i t l second colorcontrol means for generating output signals suitable for producingdistinct colors on the display surface of said cathode ray tube;

signal combining means for receiving the output signals of said firstand second color control means and transmitting only a characteristicone of the output signals to said cathode ray tube;

a fifth NOR circuit having a pair of inputs;

means for connecting the outputs of said first and second NOR circuitsto the inputs of said fifth NOR circuit;

a sixth NOR circuit having a pair of inputs;

means for connecting the outputs of the third and fourth NOR circuits tothe inputs of said sixth NOR circuit; and

means for controlling said first and second color control means inresponse to signals produced by said fifth and sixth NOR circuitsrespectively, whereby said first and second color control means generatecharacteristic signals only at mutually exclusive times, and whereby thecolor of the information to be presented and the background color can betransposed, the information can be presented in the background color, orthe background can be made the same color as the information byproviding first and third binary signals of the same one of the firstand second states, by providing the first binary signal of the firststate and the third binary signal of the second state, or by providingthe first binary signal of the second state and the third binary signalof the first state.

1. Apparatus for visually presenting information comprising: a cathoderay tube having a display surface on which a multicolor display can begenerated; input means for receiving first, second, third, fourth, fifthand sixth binary signals each having first and second states, of whichthe first and second signals are of opposite binary states, the thirdand fourth signals are of opposite binary states, the first, second,third and fourth signals are representative of the information to bepresented, and of which the fifth and sixth signals are independentlyrepresentative of the color in which the information is to be presentedand the background color; first, second, third and fourth NOR circuits,each having first and second inputs; means for connecting said inputmeans to the first and second inputs of said first, second, third andfourth NOR circuits so that the first and fifth signals are supplied tosaid first NOR circuit, the fourth and sixth signals are supplied tosaid second NOR circuit, the second and fifth signals are supplied tosaid third NOR circuit, and the third and sixth signals are supplied tosaid fourth NOR circuit; first and second color control means forgenerating output signals suitable for producing distinct colors on thedisplay surface of said cathode ray tube; signal combining means forreceiving the output signals of said first and second color controlmeans and transmitting only a characteristic one of the output signalsto said cathode ray tube; a fifth NOR circuit having a pair of inputs;means for connecting the outputs of said first and second NOR circuitsto the inputs of said fifth NOR circuit; a sixth NOR circuit having apair of inputs; means for connecting the outputs of the third and fourthNOR circuits to the inputs of said sixth NOR circuit; and means forcontrolling said first and second color control means in response tosignals produced by said fifth and sixth NOR circuits respectively,whereby said first and second color control means generatecharacteristic signals only at mutually exclusive times, and whereby thecolor of the information to be presented and the background color can betransposed, the information can be presented in the background color, orthe background can be made the same color as the information byproviding first and third binary signals of the same one of the firstand second states, by providing the first binary signal of the firststate and the third binary signal of the second state, or by providingthe first binary signal of the second state and the third binary signalof the first state.